Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh said Monday that a coalition partnership between the royalists and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party was impossible.
“I, Funcinpec, cannot do it with Mr Rainsy. He closed the door to the possibility of Funcinpec doing a coalition with him,” Prince Ranariddh said. “We still only have the CPP.”
The prince was reacting to comments made by Prime Minister Hun Sen last week that the CPP should not share power with any party other than Funcinpec.
The prime minister compared the current coalition between his party and the royalists to a marriage. The coalition has also been compared to an airplane requiring two wings.
Prince Ranariddh on Monday likened the partnership between the once warring factions to a bicycle, saying that the day would come when Funcinpec was no longer the rear wheel, but the leading party.
“Funcinpec won’t be the rear wheel forever. It is up to the people to decide,” the prince said. “If people decide to allow Funcinpec to be the front wheel, I will be the premier to drive the bicycle.”
The prince spoke to reporters outside of the National Assembly, where inside parliamentarians were still moving toward passage of a law on copyrights.
Lawmakers have so far passed three chapters of the law.
On Monday, Princess Norodom Vacheara, who just led a delegation to Hanoi to discuss border issues, said outside the Assembly that Vietnamese officials said they want to know the exact situation of the border conflicts and they are willing to resolve the border issues peacefully.
Hanoi has invited the Vietnamese border commission to brief the Vietnamese National Assembly in an effort to solve the problem; Cambodia’s government should do the same, she said.
Ok Socheat, secretary to the commission, who was also a member of the delegation, said that a letter is being drafted by the commission to Hun Sen inviting Border Commissioner Var Kim Hong to report to the National Assembly the steps the commission has taken to resolve ongoing border issues.
Cambodia does not have to accept the agreement made when Vietnamese and Cambodian forces ousted the Khmer Rouge as a negotiation starting point, Princess Vacheara said.
“I believe that most parliamentarians will not agree with the [upcoming] agreement, because there are no explanations or discussions,” of the agreement, she said, adding that King Norodom Sihanouk should be the one to sign the agreement.
Hun Sen is expected to sign the border agreement with Vietnam in March.
